PRIORITIZING STRATEGIES FOR PHYTOBIOTIC UTILIZATION IN SMALLHOLDER POULTRY FARMING USING AN INTEGRATED SWOT–PESTEL–AHP FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Phytobiotics have the potential to be used as feed additives to support healthier, safer, and more sustainable poultry production.However, their use on smallholder poultry farms is still influenced by farmers' readiness, economic feasibility, technical support, field evidence, partnerships, product access, and regulatory clarity.This study aims to formulate and determine the priority strategy for using phytobiotics as feed additives on smallholder poultry farms by integrating PESTEL-TOWS and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP).The research uses a mixed-methods approach, including farmer and stakeholder questionnaires, observations, supporting interviews, FGDs, expert validation, and AHP assessments.Respondents comprised 20 smallholder poultry farmers, 20 stakeholders, and 9 experts.The data were analyzed descriptively to identify internal and external factors, then formulated into 24 alternative strategies through PESTEL-TOWS matching.The alternative strategies are then prioritized using AHP based on the dimensional weight of the PESTEL and the local weight of the TOWS strategy.The results of the study show that the economic dimension gained the highest weight, followed by the social and technological dimensions.The five core priority strategies are the development of phytobiotic products in small packaging and an economical use model; practice-based training; preparation of technical SOPs for use; the use of policy support and partnerships for education and mentoring; and the development of local phytobiotic products that are compatible with commercial feed and combination feed.The dominance of the WO strategy indicates that the initial stage of phytobiotic utilization should focus on addressing farmers' internal weaknesses through external opportunities, particularly economic access, technical capacity, mentoring, SOPs, and product compatibility.

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